


something so magic about you

by sapphfics



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, i tried kjsdnf i’m having a hard time getting out of bed at the moment i’m sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-26
Updated: 2018-12-26
Packaged: 2019-09-25 04:41:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17114678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sapphfics/pseuds/sapphfics
Summary: In one universe, Uma doesn’t dive into the ocean. Instead, she turns away, still clutching the handrail of the boat, and smiles at Mal as though they could be anything more than enemies.Or: Four ways Jane and Uma never met.





	something so magic about you

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thatoneshippyblog](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatoneshippyblog/gifts).



> Written for Descendants Secret Santa 2018 as a gift for _thatoneshippyblog_!
> 
> This was inspired by [this fic](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1094176), and I would put in the ‘inspired by’ category on ao3 except it has literally nothing to do with the fic it was inspired by and I don’t want the author to be mad at me.
> 
> I hope you enjoy! <3

Here is a queenship no mother can contest ---  
A fruit that's death to taste: dark flesh, dark parings.  
\- Sylvia Plath, “The Beekeeper’s Daughter”

* * *

 

One.

In one universe, Uma doesn’t dive into the ocean. Instead, she turns away, still clutching the handrail of the boat, and smiles at Mal as though they could be anything more than enemies. 

(They were friends, once, and she doesn’t let herself forget it. It shouldn’t matter. She’s got Harry and Gil now. But friends are a luxury you can’t afford to loose on the Isle, and Mal should’ve known better.)

“Alright,” She agrees. “I’ll stay.” 

She’s not as stupid as Ben seems to think. She knows he’s got guards watching her every move, and the way Mal is, too. She’s not going to apologise for surviving the Isle. 

Mal introduces her to all her new friends, but Jane is the only one bold enough to ask her to dance. 

“Dance with me?” Jane asks. “Carlos won’t mind.” 

Uma remembers that Carlos always gave off the impression that you could pour tea on his head and he’d apologise to you, but nonetheless. 

“You tried to get Mal to steal my mother’s wand,” Jane says. “She’s tried that before, you know.” 

“Don’t worry, I’m not here for the wand. I didn’t stay for Mal.” Uma says. “I stayed for me. I have to get everyone out. I won’t let another child grow up there.”

“Well,” Jane says. “I might not have the wand, but I do know a little magic.”

Two.

In the next universe, Mal is more like her mother than she’d have you believe, and goes to drastic measures to keep Ben alive. 

Jane doesn’t remember how she got here, but the sun is in her eyes and her wrists burn. 

Iron. She is chained with iron. 

“Hi Mal!” Uma greets, almost cheerily. She looks over to Jane’s terrified face and looks confused. “I don’t believe we’ve met.” 

“Give me Ben,” Mal says. “And the Fairy Godmother’s precious daughter is all yours. Forget the wand! The Fairy Godmother can give you all of Auradon.”

Uma’s brows crease. “Really? You would give up one of your own kind to me? Just for a Prince?”

Jane can hear Mal’s smile. “You’d be surprised what I’d do for love.”

“Unchain her, Mal.” Uma snaps. “This isn’t a game. I wanted a wand, not a person. Let your friend go.”

“She’s not my friend,” Mal hisses. “She can give you her magic!” 

Something deep inside Jane snaps like a broken piano key and the chains fall from her body. She reaches out her hands and wraps them around Mal’s throat before she can try anything else.

Behind them, Jane can hear Uma laugh. It almost makes this easier. 

“Oh, you’ve really done it now!” Uma says. 

“You were my friend!” Jane screams as Mal begins to choke. “The first friend I ever had, and you betrayed me! You were going to trade me like a cow.”

“She does that.” Uma quips. “You’re not the first.”

“Jane - you - Carlos wouldn’t-“ Mal tries and Jane knows she should let go, but - If she does, Mal will hurt her or she will hurt someone else. This cannot go on.

“I don’t care what Calos would want,” Jane hisses. “Carlos isn’t here, is he? No. It’s just you and me and Uma and Ben. What if I let Ben watch you die, huh?”

Mal looks as if she may start weeping and despite everything, Jane doesn’t want her to die yet, so she lets her but not before casting a spell to ensure that the marks will be clear to her mother. 

“Go back to Auradon, Mal.” Jane says. “If my mother asks, lie. You’re very good at that.” 

“Aren’t you coming back?” Mal asks. Jane isn’t sure why she cares, where she got the strength from. “Your mother -“

“My mother doesn’t care about me.” Jane snaps her fingers and Mal is gone.

“How’d you do that?” Uma asks. “Magic, I mean.”

“It’s true that true love’s kiss can break any curse,” Jane repeats. “But anger is also energy.” 

“So,” Uma says. “What are you going to do?”

“I overheard Mal talking about your ideas. She said you were mad, but I know that you’re right.” Jane says. “No child should have to grow up here. So, I’m going to help you get the children out.” 

“You’ve not got a place to stay, have you?”

Jane shrugs. “Fae don’t need much sleep.” 

“You could stay with me,” Uma says. “We could use someone like you.” 

“Promise you won’t cut out my tongue?” Jane says. It might be a joke. 

“Only if I don’t slip in a fairy ring,” Uma replies. Jane holds out her hand and Uma helps her onto the ship. “Welcome to the crew, Jane.” 

Three.

In a land without magic, Uma grows up with her mother in a maximum detention center because no family wanted to take her in, and the only wings Jane ever has are attached to her back with string. 

Her mother cut out a sixteen year old girl’s tongue before driving her across state lines to meet her boyfriend. When the police found Ariel Triton’s tongue in her glovebox, her mother had insisted it was payment.

To her credit, Uma supposes, Ariel didn’t testify against her. Ariel cried when Ursula was sentenced, even though she couldn’t make a sound. Ariel visits them both as often as she can. It’s how Uma learned sign language. 

‘I’d have taken you in,’ Ariel insists. ‘I tried. They wouldn’t let me. I’m so sorry.’ 

Uma is her mother’s daughter, in some ways, and she inlists Ariel’s help in getting her out. She charms police detectives and parole officers who act appalled that anyone let her rot in this place. She learns one of their daughters is missing and plays on that. 

“You’re about Rapunzel’s age,” The man says. “I can only imagine…” 

“You’ll find her,” Uma lies. She’s sixteen now, and she knows it’s better to lie. “I just want to find myself, away from my mother.”

With that, her release papers are signed, and Ariel gets her wish. She doesn’t even have to change her name. No one knows Ursula had a daughter. 

They move in next door to a school teacher and a girl Uma’s age who’s the first person brave enough to come up to Uma and talk to her. 

“Hi, I’m Jane. Do- do you want to be my friend?” 

Uma grins. 

Four.

Jane knows not to compare herself, but she can’t help but think that Evie looks even more beautiful in her wedding dress. 

This was always how it was going to end, wasn’t it? With a wedding and a dance and the laws against magic remaining in place. Carlos and her broke up so she comes to the wedding alone. 

Her mother’s given up on her. At this point, she‘s thinking of getting a cat and moving to a cottage by sea. 

But Jane catches the bouquet, and Uma and her share a dance. 

Jane kisses her, just once, and walks away. 

But you didn’t think that was the end of the story, did you?


End file.
